This invention relates to infants' and children's car seats having overhead shields. More particularly, this invention relates to such a car seat provided with an overhead shield which is rotatable among several fixed positions.
Infants' and children's car seats are known which are provided with a safety shield which is pivotally attached at an appropriate point to the sides of the seat. Such shields are typically U-shaped with a padded central section to cushion the occupant in the event of a collision, and the shield is pivotally attached to the sides of the seat so as to be maneuverable to an overhead position in which the infant or child can be easily placed in and removed from the car seat.
Most such overhead shields have arms of fixed length, which suffers from the disadvantage that as the infant grows in size, insufficient space is afforded by the inner periphery of the shield to comfortably accommodate the child. At this point, the shield loses its utility. One solution to this problem is to provide a car seat with an overhead shield which is freely rotatable about the longitudinal axis of the shield. However, this solution suffers from the disadvantage that the shield will rotate to a position in which it maintains contact with a portion of the infant or child's body, typically the thighs. Many infants and children find this contact uncomfortable and confining.